Do you think it’s too late to chase your dreams? This is a problem I’m constantly addressing in the Courage Driven Latina program. My clients think they’re too old and that they’ve missed their window of opportunity. And every single time they have a little courage, their dream becomes a reality. 

It’s never too late and you’re not too old to change. Some of the biggest household names in the world didn’t make it big until they were in their fifties! Imagine if Steve Carell gave up on acting in his thirties – we’d never have The Office! 

In this week’s episode, I’m giving you a sneak peek into how I coach my clients into being courageous – no matter how old they are. Because at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how old you are or how many certifications you have. As long as you want it, you can make it happen. All you need is a little courage. 

Website:
www.theerikacruz.com

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How to work with Erika:
Join the waitlist for Courage Driven Latina here.

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Podcast production for this episode was provided by CCST.

Episode Transcript

Erika: Hello, hello. Welcome to another episode of Chingona Revolution podcast. This is another episode where I do not have a script. I just have a thought that I want to talk to you about. I do love these episodes because I feel as if It’s you and I having a conversation where it’s not heavily scripted. I’m not heavily prepared for it, but I’m not going to lie.

Sometimes I’m like, you should prepare a little bit more for your podcast, Erica. But actually, before we get into today’s topic, I just wanted to share that last week I had my mother on the podcast and I have not gotten so many messages and comments about the podcast in a very long time. Until last week, you all loved my mom.

A lot of my clients were messaging me inside of Slack, which is our internal communication tool and how I coach them in between calls. And a lot of you were saying that my mom needs her own podcast. And I really do have to say that even though when I first started my business, she was not a big supporter because she didn’t know how to support me.

Now she is one of my biggest supporters and I just feel very fortunate. I feel very lucky. She is a wise woman and she’s still my mom. So it’s still, she still can trigger me sometimes. As you know, I am still in her house. And I’m back in my childhood room to run this business and it’s actually, you know, been kind of nice to like, have this time with her.

I think for a long time I was like, I need to hurry up and get out of here because I’ve always been such an independent person, but this time is time that we’re never going to get back. Right? Like when I move out, I’m not going to move back. Back and not that there’s anything wrong with people living at home, right?

Like obviously I’m living at home but I think a big part of Me wanting to move was like, how is it possible that i’m still at my mom’s house? But, if you know me and you know my situation, my mom’s getting ready for retirement. So me being here is actually a huge financial help for her because what I would be paying in rent somewhere else, I’m contributing to her household.

So I’m actually contributing to her retiring faster. And if you heard the episode, you know that that is a big, a big thing for her. So I just feel very lucky and honored to have a mother that is brave and courageous. I mean, even just being on the podcast was an act of courage because my mom is an introvert and she does not like public speaking.

She does not like speaking to strangers. Once she gets comfortable with you, she’s good. But. She was so nervous about the podcast and she still did such a great job. And she was like, have me back on in like a year and you’ll, you’ll see my improvement. So she’s manifesting being like a pastor. How do you say pastor in Pastora?

I don’t know how I would say that. Is it just pastor? There’s no female version of it in English, I guess. Um, she wants to be a pastor at her church. So. I have no doubt that she is going to make that happen.

Other quick updates before I get into today’s episode is that we are having the Courage Driven Latina event with a lot of clients. Uh, people that are going to the master, that are in the mastermind will be also attending the event. We have some people who are not clients. I am so excited about the event, but if I have to be, Well, I want to be, I want to be totally transparent that event planning is hard.

There’s so many moving pieces. They always end up being a lot more expensive. I’ve definitely felt overwhelmed this week with the amount of things that I have going because the event is in Los Angeles. I am still in the Bay Area. I thought I was moving to LA. Which is why I chose L. A. as the destination.

Ended up staying in the Bay, so now we’re driving over there early on the Friday before. My team is landing on Friday, and we’ve had to go through just like, the rundown of what’s going to happen. What time is food going to get there? Who’s going to go get the food? Who’s taking care of what? And I’m just so lucky that I have a team that is supportive.

My mom is going to be one of those team members that’s going to come with me. And I’m very excited about that, but it has been very overwhelming. There’s just a lot of different things going on between the event. And then I’m going out of the country for three weeks. I’m going to be in Italy. So preparing the podcast episodes, right?

Like even thinking ahead about the podcast episodes, it’s been. Just very overwhelming I think is the best word to describe things and then when it comes to like where I am in my cycle I am just ending my period now So it’s also just been the part of my cycle where I have the least amount of energy and when I’m the most Most sensitive.

So having all of these different priorities coming up at the same time and then preparing for the next enrollment of Courage Driven Latina because I’m going to be gone for three weeks and when I come back we’re going to start the enrollment. So it’s like, all right, what do we need prepared now? What podcast episodes need to be prepared?

What videos need to be prepared? What does my team need while I’m gone? So just a lot of, of prep stuff. But the thought that has kept me going, not just in these last couple of weeks, but just over the last four years since starting my business. I can’t believe I’m, I’m going to go on four years. It’s only been like three and a half years cause I started at the end of 2020, but still wow.

Time flies. But the one thought I actually debated making this podcast episode about this. So I’ll just tell you about it because my other, my other topic is actually going to be pretty short, but my thought that gets me through these times is I can do hard things. Because I can’t and I’ve proven it to myself over and over and over and even though I feel overwhelmed and there’s been so many different things going on and I’m sharing this to be transparent because I think sometimes you all just look at me and think everything comes easy and it’s just, everything’s organized and everything’s good and sometimes it is, but most of the time, no, most of the time I’m pretty stressed out about something and right now Overwhelmment has been the predominant feeling and the thought that has pushed me through is I can do hard things and I’ve proven to myself over and over and over that I can do hard things So I’m not convincing myself that this isn’t hard I mean, I could do that, right?

But what if I just owned up to like, yeah, this is kind of challenging, but if anybody can do it, it’s me, right? I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t have these opportunities if I wasn’t capable of doing them. And whenever things are hard, I grow as a person and I grow my emotional capacity. I grow my intelligence. This is not the first event we’ve put together, which has made it a little bit easier.

There are a lot of new factors going on. There’s a lot of new things, um, additional people are going to be there. It’s going to be a bigger event, but we learned so much from the first event. So if you find yourself in a place where You are maybe paralyzed because you’re not sure which action to take, or maybe you’re also feeling overwhelmed.

I invite you to practice the thought, I can do hard things. And if you don’t believe that you can do hard things, think back over the last year of all of the different challenges and obstacles you’ve faced, and how you were able to overcome those. Because if you’re listening to this podcast now, today, You have overcome a lot of challenges, a lot of difficult things.

So you can also do hard things. All we have to do sometimes is find the evidence. Find the evidence of, Oh yeah, I am capable. Remember when I graduated from school, even though I was failing most of my classes when I started, or when I thought I was going to drop out, or remember when I ended up getting employee of the month, when I thought I was going to get fired for my job, right?

There’s so many. things that we just forget to recognize. Like we, we get so focused on where we want to go and what our goals are that we forget to acknowledge what we’ve already accomplished and what we’ve already done. So I invite you to take a moment and reflect on everything that you’ve done to get you to where you are now.

Okay. That was enough of a rant. That was an eight minute rant. Let’s go ahead and get started with today’s topic. I want to talk to you about how It is not too late, you are not too old, and you have everything you need right now to get started. There have been a lot of changes. Since 2020. 2020 was a pivotal year.

A lot of jobs were eliminated. A lot of jobs transitioned into something else. A lot of us were then able to work from home for the first time. Social norms changed. Um, the boom of the coaching industry and like TikTok and social media and short form content. I mean, so much has changed, right? And over the last four years, you are totally a different person than you were then.

And if you find yourself in this place where you have a desire to do something, whether it’s start a business or work on a project or work on a goal, I am here to remind you that it is not too late and you are not alone. To old 

What I’ve heard from clients a lot is, I spent so much time getting this degree, like for example, we’ll just use nursing as an example. I spent all these years, like four to six years in becoming a nurse. And I don’t want to walk away from it now because I’ve already invested so much time in this degree, but if we really think about it, it’s like, okay, yeah, you invested for 6 years to work a job that you’ve been working for however long.

So what just because you invested those 4 to 6 years means you’re going to spend the rest of your life in a career that you already know you don’t want to do. And a lot of times we get caught up in this, right? Like, Oh, I invested so much time in this. So now I have to stick with it. We don’t have to stick with anything.

We’re allowed to change. We are allowed to evolve. And another thing that comes up a lot that I hear from my clients is, well, that first one is, you know, if I’ve already invested time in something, I don’t want it to be a waste of time. So you’re just going to continue to waste your time doing something you already know you don’t want to do.

And I think it’s just because we shame ourselves because we made the quote unquote wrong decision, but you wouldn’t have known. That you didn’t want to do that until you tried it, right? So let’s keep using the nursing example. Let’s say you went through nursing school, became a nurse, and were a nurse for, I don’t know, a few years.

You wouldn’t have known that you didn’t want to be a nurse until you became a nurse. So where are we maybe not allowing ourselves to evolve into what it is that we want to evolve? If you have a craving to do something different, if you’re ready to change something in your life, if you want to change your career, um, the way that you see yourself, your confidence level, if you want to pick up a hobby, it is not too late and you are not too old because the other thing I hear, right?

One of it’s like, Oh, I already wasted my time or invested my time in this. I should stick with it. That’s one excuse. I hear the other one is it’s too late. It’s too I’m already in my 20s. Can you believe I hear that from people in their 20s? I already got a degree in this or I already did this thing Y’all, if you are in your 50s or 60s, it’s not too late.

I mean, last week my mom was talking about like her next goals in life, right? And she’s in her 60s. You are not too old to transition something in your life. You’re not too old to bring change into your life. There’s this misconception that like once we find ourselves like we’re done, but no. You have to constantly find yourself because you’re constantly evolving and you’re constantly changing who you were last year is different than who you are now and who you’re going to be in 10 years is different than who you are now.

If you resist change and resist allowing yourself to go do something new, you are blocking your own growth.

Erika: And this change does not have to be completely changing your career. It could be picking up a new hobby. It takes a lot of courage to pick up a new hobby. This is coming from somebody who started dancing salsa and bachata in her thirties and almost gave up because, I mean, I don’t know if y’all listened to that podcast episode where I talked about how I accidentally scratched this guy’s like face and nose because I put my hand up and like my nail caught his face because I didn’t know how to do the dance.

I could have stopped showing up after that, but I continued. To go. And now if you follow me on Instagram, you see my videos where I look pretty advanced now, but I was a beginner at some point. And there’s people in dance class who start when they’re in their forties and their fifties and their sixties.

And I think it’s so beautiful. There’s something so beautiful about allowing yourself to be a beginner because you’re reminded that there’s so much to learn still. You, it humbles you in the most beautiful way. It allows you to be open to growth. It allows you to work on yourself. And if you’re just sticking to the things that you already know that you’re good at, that’s perfectionism coming up.

That’s, again, you blocking your own growth. Another thing that I started doing when I was in my 30s was boxing. I didn’t start boxing until like consistently, I didn’t start boxing until a few months ago. And again, if you follow me on Instagram, then you’ve seen my progress with my kicks at kickboxing and with my punches.

My form is so much better now, so much better now. And if you’re listening to this and you’re like, okay, Erica, you’re, you’re in your 30s. I’m older than you. I had a feeling some of that was going to come up. So I wanted just to share a few people. Who have also started things later on in their career, who’ve made changes in their, not just, you know, their career, but in their, in their lives.

Cause I think it’s so easy for us to hear about like the young success stories. Like Mark Zuckerberg was 19 when he started Facebook. Can you believe that? And then Bill Gates like got Microsoft off the ground when he was 23. So these are the things that we hear so much about. Because it’s, it’s almost like.

 headline worthy, right? It’s like, oh my gosh, it’s so headline worthy. But there is so many people who started later in life, like past 40. I want to say the, uh, founder of KFC, the Kentucky Fried Chicken, didn’t start franchising or, Until he was 65 or something like that. Yeah. Let me pull up exactly some of the people that I wanted to mention.

So Vera Wang, she was actually a figure skater and journalist before she entered the fashion industry at age 40. She didn’t enter the industry until she was 40 and now she’s one of the world’s premier women designers. Okay, another example is Betty White was one of the most award winning comedic, comedic actresses in history, But she didn’t become an icon until she joined the cast of the Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1973, and she was 51 years old when she did that.

Steve Carell, who we know for, um, The Office, as well as the 40 year old Virgin, didn’t start. As his like main role, which was the office until he was 42.

Okay. Ariana Huffington who founded the Huffington post founded it at age 55.

So if you were listening to this podcast and you’re like, Oh man, I have this desire to do something different in my life. It’s not too late. You’re not too old, and you have everything you need right now to get started. 

And if you think you need a whole nother degree or a certification to do whatever it is that you need to do, you don’t. All you need is some good ol accountability, some courage. This is literally why I created Courage Driven Latina. To help people do the things that scare them. To help them build the courage to take action on their courage project in 90 days or less.

So if that sounds appealing to you, join us. on the waitlist because we are going to be opening doors at the end of July for Courage Driven Latina. So be sure to join that by going down below to the show notes and we will have the link there so that you can join the waitlist and then you will be the first to know whenever we open doors.

But if you think that you need a certification, another degree, like really all you need is the courage to start. And I think there’s this misconception that people are like, Oh yeah, I’ll start whenever I feel ready. But you’re never going to get to this place where you feel ready because being ready is not a feeling.

It’s actually a decision. You have to decide that you are ready. And even though I’m telling you it’s not too late and you’re not too old, I, I stand by that a hundred percent, but that’s not an excuse to wait another year or two years. When you know that you want to do something, do it. Have you ever heard the saying of like, the best time to start was yesterday, but the second best start time to But the second best time to start is now.

That’s exactly what we’re saying. We can’t beat ourselves up over what hasn’t happened in the past because this is something I hear as well, like, oh, I should have bought more property when I was younger, or I should have invested in the stock market. It’s like, What if you just do it now? Like just because you didn’t do it then doesn’t mean you don’t want to do it now.

Make it make sense.

With that being said, I am going to pull some cards from my Animal Power deck. This is one of my favorite decks. So in your mind, go ahead and pick pile A or pile B and then I will pull some cards. And leave you with a little message.

Okay. So if you chose pile A, you got macaw, which is a bird that looks very much like a parrot. I don’t really know the difference, but it is a beautiful bird and the, it’s very colorful. Which this gives me a lot of vibes of creativity and expression and actually the words on it say celebrate the power of expression.

And I, you know, I think it’s interesting because I believe this is, um, one of the type of birds that you can teach to speak or that, you know, are just pretty loud. So I feel like this has to do with something about using your voice and like speaking up.

So let’s read the description. Have you been holding back your energy for fear that it is too much? Have you been so, oh my gosh, I swear I hadn’t read this before. I’ve never pulled this card actually. Have you been suppressing your voice in any way? The colorful and vocal macall, I forgot how to pronounce it already.

has flown into your field to help you examine the parts of yourself that are not being fully expressed. When you give yourself permission to speak your truth, to keep a song alive in your heart, then your life force grows stronger and your ex, and you experience heightened moods and new creative energy.

Take a moment now to reflect on whether your voice or the love in your heart feels fully open. If it doesn’t, then what next step do you need to take to be in your truth? So what this card is really telling me, especially after that, is maybe you have this desire to, I don’t know, maybe like, post on social media or become a speaker or share your story with other people or express yourself in some way.

Maybe it’s like pottery or poetry or, or something that really allows you to express yourself creatively. But the thing about creativity is that creativity is vulnerable to go do a piece of work, a piece of art to create content that is all very vulnerable. And that’s what can sometimes stop us and make us feel afraid of.

creating the thing that we desire. And if you picked pile a, think about the people that you are going to impact and influence when you allow yourself to speak up and to be creative. All right, I hope that resonated. And if you chose pile B, the card I pulled for you is the Lion card. And this description says, Embrace honesty and generosity.

So before I read the description on this, immediately what this is telling me is, so the Lion is this very courageous, powerful animal. And as I’m reading the words honesty on here, I, I’m, I’m being like intuitively called to ask you, are you being honest with yourself? Are you being honest about your happiness in your current situation?

Are you being honest with yourself about your desires? Are you being honest with other people about what you can and can’t give them? Are you holding up your boundaries? Are you standing in your power? Are you standing in your strength? Because when we are vulnerable with ourselves, that is literally the most important person to be vulnerable with, right?

If you want something more in life, be honest with yourself about it. And then, so it says, embrace honesty and generosity. Now I’m going to pull the actual description from the book. Lion represents honesty, generosity, and pure heart. Lion reminds you that you already have everything you need inside of you and helps you unlock these attributes with grace so that you can share them with the world.

 If there is someone you should have an honest conversation with, ask Lion to activate your courage, leadership, and integrity and go for it. If there’s someone who could benefit from your generosity, then share your attention, energy, and resources with them without expectations or conditions.

Call on Lion’s Medicine to help you act from a place of love, knowing you will always be provided for.

I love it.

Okay, friends, this was a little short episode. I hope that you enjoyed the reading as well as the message. Again, it’s not too late. And you’re not too old. All you need is the decision to start and the courage to move forward. And if you feel called to Courage Driven Latina, join the wait list. I would love to support you in this new venture, in this new shift.

We will help you do it in less than 90 days. We’re going to keep you accountable. We have a courage project plan to help you troubleshoot any possible. Obstacles you might overcome. We have a community of amazing, amazing women. Actually just yesterday. Somebody posted in the wins channel. I took a screenshot because I was like, I have to like share this.

So this person said three months ago when I joined Courage Driven Latina, I felt lost and unsure about my next steps with my job. Recently, I was able to speak up to my boss and tell him what I wanted. I also drafted a proposal and he’s working with HR to push our request. My next goal is to speak up when it comes, when the offer comes through, because I know they will come in low.

For the first time in a long time, I know what I want and I’m confident in asking for it. Just three months ago. She joined and I think I’ve maybe coached this person once It’s being in a container with people who are working towards something that scares them, but excites them is so powerful So so powerful.

Okay friends. I hope you enjoyed this episode I hope you enjoyed the cards that I pulled and Remember that it’s not too late to You’re not too old, and you have everything you need right now just to get started.

I will see you next week!